Most "best app" lists compare feature checkboxes. For a firearms app, the first question is different: where does your data live? Here’s the full checklist.
The short answer
The best range log app logs a session in seconds, rolls every session into a per-firearm lifetime round count, ties cleaning and parts reminders to that count, works fully offline, and lets you export your data. The question most reviews skip matters most: where your gun data is stored. Prefer local-first apps that keep the log on your phone, with no account and no cloud.
Look for seven things: local-first data storage, automatic per-firearm round counts, maintenance tracking tied to round count, full offline use, fast session logging, data export you own, and no ads or ad trackers. The first one is the one most buyers skip and the one that matters most for a firearms app.
This is the question most people skip and the one that matters most. A range log is a list of your firearms tied to your identity. If the app requires an account and syncs to a cloud, that list lives in someone else’s database - subject to breaches, acquisitions, and subpoenas. A local-first app keeps the log on your phone, where it can’t be leaked by a server that doesn’t exist.
The whole point of a range log is knowing how many rounds have gone through each gun. That number drives cleaning schedules, spring replacements, and resale honesty. A good app rolls every session up into a lifetime round count per firearm automatically.
Cleaning and parts wear are functions of rounds fired, not calendar days. Look for an app that lets you set an interval (say, every 500 rounds) per firearm and alerts you when you cross it - and keeps a service history so you know what was done and when.
Plenty of ranges - especially outdoor ones - have no signal. If the app needs a network connection to log a session, it will eventually fail you exactly when you’re using it. Offline-first isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s table stakes.
If logging a session takes longer than casing your pistol, you’ll stop doing it. Look for quick entry: pick a firearm, enter rounds, done - with optional depth (distance, reloads, ammo cost, photos) when you want it.
Your shooting history should be portable. If an app can’t export your full log in a readable format, your data is hostage. Check that export exists - and that it isn’t paywalled.
Ad-supported apps embed ad networks, and ad networks profile users. In a firearms app, that’s a category error. Prefer apps funded by an honest paid tier instead of your attention and your data.
There are five common approaches: memory, a paper logbook, a spreadsheet, a cloud-synced gun app, and a local-first app. They differ most on two axes that matter for firearms: whether they do the round-count math for you, and whether your gun list ends up on someone else’s server.
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | Zero effort | Wildly inaccurate after a few months; useless for maintenance intervals or resale |
| Paper logbook | Private, simple, no battery | No totals, no reminders, easy to lose, painful to summarize across years |
| Spreadsheet | Flexible, free, exportable | Manual formulas, no alerts, clumsy at the range on a phone; cloud sheets put your gun list on a server |
| Cloud-synced gun app | Convenient, multi-device | Your firearms list lives in a vendor database tied to your account - a breach or acquisition away from exposure |
| Local-first app (Shots Fired) | Automatic totals, round-based maintenance alerts, works offline, data never leaves your phone | You own your backups - export is built in, but it’s on you to use it |
New to logging sessions? Start with our guide on how to track rounds fired.
We built Shots Fired to be the app that passes this checklist. Round counts roll up per firearm automatically. Cleaning reminders trigger on rounds fired, not calendar guesses. Sessions log in seconds - including by sound detection. It works fully offline, exports everything, shows no ads, and stores every byte on your phone.
There’s no account because there’s nothing to sign into: no server, no cloud database, no registry. That’s a deliberate architectural choice, and we wrote down exactly what it means in our Privacy Manifesto.
A range log app records your shooting sessions - date, firearm, rounds fired, and optionally distance, ammo cost, and notes - and rolls them up into per-firearm round counts, trends, and maintenance schedules.
Because a synced gun log is a de facto registry: a server-side list of what you own tied to your identity. Local-first apps store everything on your device, so there is no central database to breach, sell, or subpoena.
Yes - the free tier tracks one firearm with unlimited sessions, basic stats, and rounds-based cleaning reminders. Pro ($2.99/mo or $19.99/yr) unlocks unlimited firearms, full maintenance scheduling, goals, and complete reports.
Completely. There is no account and no server - the app is fully functional offline, including at remote outdoor ranges.
Free to start. No account. No cloud. iPhone only, for now.
Download on the App Store